This is your Google Pixel 6a camera review, complete with the best camera features.
Hey friends!
I’m Tasia Custode and welcome back to my YouTube Channel where I share tech tips, app
reviews, and a ton of Google Tips.
And I’ve been lucky enough to be gifted a Google Pixel 6a to review for you.
But don’t be fooled!
This is not a sponsored video.
I’m diving into all the nitty gritty 6a camera details.
We have a lot to cover!
Let’s go!
So let’s start with the camera system and what you’re getting with the Pixel6a.
So, here are all the camera specs.
We’ve got a dual camera system on the back of the Pixel 6a.
There’s a 12.2 MP dual-pixel OIS wide main camera.
OIS is optical image stabilization, by the way.
So, it’s using motors to stabilize the photography process.
So it’ll detect camera movement and move the lens to counteract the movement.
And this is a scientific, technical, demonstration.
The main camera has a 77-degree field of view, as well as super res zoom.
There is also a 12 MP ultrawide camera on the back, with a 114-degree field of view.
12MP is actually a downgrade from the 16MP ultrawide found on the 5a.
But, something important to note is that the sensor is larger, so it allows more light
on the ultrawide on the 6a.
And in terms of video, on the back, we’ve got 4K video recording capabilities at 30fps
or 60fps.
On the front, we’ve got an 8 MP camera.
This is the same as we saw on Pixel 5a, but this one has a hair larger field of view at
84 degrees wide, as opposed to 83.
I told you, just a hair.
An 8 MP camera is nothing to write home about, honestly, though combined with Google Tensor,
it’ll still produce nicely processed images, which we’ll talk about all the camera features
a bit more later.
When it comes to video with the front camera, we’ve got 1080p at 30fps.
Alright, now that we understand our camera specs, it’s time to get into the camera
features.
And there are a lot, including a brand new feature.
Because of course, there are, it’s a Pixel powered by Google Tensor.
And if you want more information on Google Tensor and a complete Pixel 6a review, I’ve
linked to that video in the description below.
And just so you know, every single image and video you’ll see today has not had any edits,
and no settings were changed prior.
I want you to get the feel of the quality of the camera on the 6a if you were to just
take her right out of the box and start snapping pics.
So let’s start with a feature everyone knows and loves: Portrait Mode.
So we all know how portrait mode is a great way to make a smartphone photo look more like
a professional photograph by adding blur to the background and enhancing the subject.
But I’m not sure if you all know that I live with actual real-life models who agreed
to sit for photos for me.
So let’s examine the quality of portrait mode of Pixel 6a.
Here’s a shot of Poppie looking like she has had it up to here with me taking all these
photos of her.
Initially, it looks like it’s doing a pretty good job, but if we look closely, we can see
a little bit of blur on some of the edges.
If we take a peek at some photos of Dora, one of them looks super crisp, but the other
two, we have a couple of edging issues as well.
One has a bit of blurring on top and the other had a hard time with all the backlight pouring
in over her head.
But I have to say, I’m being incredibly picky about this.
And in fact, I have noticed a big improvement in a certain aspect of portrait mode and that’s
on images where there are spaces between that need to be blurred.
So don’t mind the non-model subject of this photo, but this was a shot I snapped on the
front camera in portrait mode and the Pixel 6a is doing a great job of rendering that
blur in the space between my arm and head here.
This is a tricky thing to master and it did this well consistently, every time.
That’s a big improvement and a big win for this camera.
Portrait mode on Pixel 6a still has all the additional editing capabilities you’ll love
like portrait blur and portrait light.
I’ve talked a lot about these before, but here’s a quick refresher.
Once you’ve snapped your portrait, head to ‘edit’, then select ‘tools’.
Here, you can tap on portrait light and you’re be given a little circle you can drag around
and place anywhere you want on your image.
So if you need more light on the left, you can do that.
Plus, there is an auto mode, so if you don’t know what you’re doing, just tap ‘auto’
and it’ll set it for you.
You can also tap on ‘blur’ and increase or decrease the blur on a sliding scale.
Now, just like portrait mode, Real Tone is not new to Pixel 6a, but there have been some
improvements to the camera quality.
Keep in mind, that cameras are pretty biased if you think about it.
They are literally designed for white skin.
Talk about lack of inclusivity.
But with real tone, over 15 times more portraits of people of color were added to the HDR database
that informs Pixel camera tuning.
The main camera captures more light, for rich, vivid colors and more detail.
There are improved AWB and Auto exposure algorithms to help recognize all faces and preserve skin
tones.
So now, you can more accurately capture the true tone of more people’s skin, from darker
to lighter and everything in between.
Real tone really allows for more richness, detail, and true-to-color images.
There’s also better face detection in the camera and it’ll work with Snapchat and
other third-party camera apps.
So now let’s quickly go over the ultrawide camera.
Last year, I was really impressed by the 5a, then the 6 Pro also blew me away, so I was
expecting much of the same here.
And I have not been disappointed.
I’ve snapped a few different shots using the ultrawide on Pixel 6a and you’d be hard
pressed to tell much of a difference between the 5a and 6a.
And frankly, you’d be hard pressed to tell much of a difference between the 6a and 6
Pro.
I love the ultrawide.
I feel like you can get a bit more dramatic or artsy without even trying and it’s really
nice to be able to have this caliber of shots with a phone at this price point.
Alright, the next feature we need to put to the test is super res zoom.
You can crank it to 7x zoom on Pixel 6a.
I snapped a few different shots here, and I have to say, Pixel 6a does a great job.
I find the subjects are still quite clear.
So, I’ve got an older iPhone 11 Pro that can zoom further than Pixel 6a, but I snapped
the same shot on 7x zoom and Pixel 6a is night and day more crisp and clear.
I realize that’s like comparing apples to oranges a bit, so I compared the 6a to my
Pixel 6 Pro, and I have to say, it really holds up.
When you think about Pixel 6a does not have the same telephoto lens and zoom capabilities
as the 6 Pro, it’s all the more impressive.
And yes this is just a random zoom in on my Habs water bottle.
Deal with it.
But you can see Pixel 6 Pro is obviously providing even more crisp detail on 7x zoom, but again,
it’s not really a fair comparison.
Given the price point of the 6a and the fact it doesn’t have a telephoto lens, I’m
all the more impressed.
Remember, it’s most likely that you’re not coming from a Cadillac and getting a gremlin.
You’re probably coming from a gremlin and going to be really impressed with this upgrade
to a reliable Toyota Camry.
Ya feel me?
You are not a gremlin.
You are a delight.
You are beautiful and you are worthy.
Super res Zoom also allows you to capture better Night Sight details too.
I’ve loved night sight since Pixel 5a, and it’s still a thing of beauty of Pixel 6a.
So here is a picture of Poppie in my closet, of all places.
And there is only a little natural daylight streaming in from the door.
Pixel 6a had no problem brightening up this picture, making it look nearly as well-lit
as my daytime pics of her.
So then here Poppie is outside a little after dusk and would you look at that?
Nice lighting that doesn’t change the colorization of the image.
And for good measure, here’s Poppie after dark, and once again, the image is rendered
beautifully.
Now Night Sight works on both pictures and videos in Snapchat, but guess what?
The Google Gods are working to bring Night Sight to Instagram and TikTok!
Now THAT is breaking news.
Something else I love on the Pixel 6 Pro camera has come to Pixel 6a and that’s face unblur.
To be clear, this is not a new mode, it’s just another improvement to camera quality
available on a less expensive device.
This is again thanks to the processing power of Google Tensor.
So it’s using machine learning to unblur faces in low light or with too much movement.
So here’s how this works.
The Pixels sensors are scanning the scene for faces before you even take the photo.
That way, if a face is blurry it gears up a second camera to get ready to snap a shot
too.
So, when you snap the photo, it takes two images simultaneously - one from the ultra-wide
camera and one from the main camera.
The ultra-wide camera is using a faster exposure to minimize blur.
Then, Google’s machine learning fuses the sharper face from the ultra-wide with the
low-noise shot from the main camera, and voila!
Even in a photo where I’m jumping, my face is completely sharp and unblurred.
And if that wasn’t good enough, it’ll analyze the photo again for any other blurred
bits and adjust as necessary.
How cool is this?
I fell in love with this feature on my 6 Pro and I’m so so glad it’s available on 6a
thanks to Tensor.
A huge win.
Alright, if you have ever watched any of my Pixel 6 Pro videos, you know I was, and still
am, mind blown by Magic Eraser.
Well, magic eraser is available on Pixel 6a and there is a new feature too, which we will
talk about in just a second.
As you might know, you can access magic eraser from a photo you just snapped, or any photo
in Google Photos.
So grab your photo you want to edit and tap on edit.
Then, scroll to tools.
Here, you’ll now have a magic eraser option.
Simply tap on that and if there are obvious distractions, you’ll have suggestions for
those in your photo so you will have the option to erase all at once, or tap to remove one
by one.
And if you don’t have suggestions, you can still remove whatever you want.
Simple circle it or draw a line over the distraction to make it disappear.
When this first came out last year, it was really good, but even Google admitted it wasn’t
quite up to their expectations.
I can tell you, having used this feature for a really long time now, it just gets better
and better with each update.
It still blows my mind that this is even a thing we can do with any of our photos.
Because remember, you can use magic eraser on all your photos!
Whether you took them just now with a Pixel device, or years ago on a completely different
device.
I. Know!
So in case I haven’t made it clear, Pixel 6a is doing just as good a job at erasing
unwanted things out of my photos as my Pixel 6 Pro.
What a delight.
But wait!
There’s more!
There’s an all-new feature on Pixel 6a you might have noticed.
It’s called camouflage.
So, for times when you don’t want to erase an object completely, you can just camouflage
it.
Yes, really.
The camouflage feature was designed to reduce distractions in your photos.
So, again, we’re going to edit a photo, and we’ll head back to tools.
Again, let’s tap on ‘magic eraser’ and this time, let’s tap on camouflage.
Here, just like magic eraser, either use the suggestions or circle or brush what you want
to camouflage.
And just like that, the wizardry that is Google Tensor and the Pixel 6a camera will automatically
change the color of that object to better blend in with the scene.
Are you kidding me right now?
Like, how?
And guess what?
This new feature not only works on Pixel 6a, but is now available on Pixel 6 and 6 Pro
as well!
If you’re on one of those devices and you don’t see the camouflage option yet, just
make sure to update your camera app.
It’s a what?
A game changer!
So now for my final verdict.
Do I think Pixel 6a camera is good.
Yes.
Do I think it’s better than 6 Pro?
No, but you’re also comparing a budget-friendly phone with a flagship phone.
Do I think it’s a really great camera for the money?
Absolutely.
I’d argue it’s a better camera than a lot of other higher-end phones have.
Ya, I said it.
Although portrait mode isn’t insanely good, I’m really impressed with how it’s rendered
the blur in some tricky spots.
I’m also impressed with the super res zoom.
I think it provided better focus and clarity than expected.
And although the ultrawide camera is only 12 MP, I think it does a really nice job given
the bigger sensor.
With literally just pointing and shooting, the images produced are really good.
Like I really have to nitpick this camera to knock it.
Truly.
Couple all of that with real tone, face unblur, manual auto-white balancing, magic eraser,
and camouflage.
COME ON!
Show me a better camera at this price point.
Go on, I’ll wait.
And if you remember from the beginning of this video - all the examples you saw were
not edited at all.
I just took the phone out of the box and started snapping photos.
Now there are a lot of other features I didn’t even touch on in this video like panorama,
manual white balancing, top shot - which I love - Live HDR+, and more, but we’d be
here all day if gushed about every single feature.
So if you want a complete feature list, I’ve linked to all the specs in the description
below.
And remember to check out my complete Pixel 6a review via the link in the description
as well.
This has been fun, but now I’m going back to playing with the Pixel 6a camera a bit
more.
So what do you think of the Google Pixel 6a camera?
Let everyone know in the comments below.
As always, thank you so much for watching, if you liked this video, I want to know so
give it a like, a share, or leave that comment below.
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Thanks for watching and see ya next time.